Thank you for visiting our website. White & Associates has been practicing US immigration law for more than 20 years. Kenneth White, the managing partner, has lived overseas for more than a dozen years, and has represented thousands of visa applicants in their dealings with US embassies and consulates. He has created this first-of-its-kind website dedicated exclusively to the problems and issues faced by applicants overseas. This site supplements the firm’s two books on American immigration law, as well as its other websites: www.e-b-5.com, which is dedicated to assisting those interested in becoming US permanent residents through the EB-5 investor immigration program, and www.bridgewest.com, which outlines the firm’s services related to US citizenship, work and student visas, and the Diversity Lottery, as well as family and business immigration.

More than 2 million US visa applicants are denied every year by embassies and consulates around the world. Approximately 75% of these applicants are individuals applying for a visitor, business, or student visa, who, according to the consular officer, did not prove they would return to their home country or otherwise prove eligibility.

For more than 20 years, we have been fighting erroneous consular decisions. Consular officers have a difficult job — they are on the front lines of our fight with terrorism; must deal with fraudulent documentation submitted in support of visa applications; and have very little time to interview applicants. Because of their limited time and resources, it is not surprising that consular officers frequently make factual mistakes, misunderstand applicants, make legal errors, and ignore relevant facts and documentation in reviewing legitimate applications. Consular officers, in general, are not lawyers, and have limited training in US immigration laws. We have helped hundreds of clients overcome mistaken decisions. As a result of our efforts, individuals who were permanently barred from the United States, barred for 3 and 10 years, and continuously denied visas have been able to receive visas: to visit, work, and immigrate to the US. An unfounded consular denial is not a death knell; rather, it should only be the beginning of a process to ensure that the visa which should have been issued in the first place will be granted.

Of course, the best way to avoid an erroneous consular denial is to prepare thoroughly for the initial visa interview. We are happy to prepare visa applicants for their future visa interviews: an ounce of prevention is truly the best medicine.

For individuals who have already been denied, it is necessary to spend time assessing the circumstances surrounding the denial to plot a course of action: what is the background of the applicant? What is the purpose of the application and type of visa applied for? What led the consular officer to make the decision he did?

Case Studies

Upon inquiry to the consulate, we learned that a consular officer mistakenly believed that the applicant was a mechanic and therefore denied him under Section 214(b) because his job was viewed as a weak tie to his home country. In fact, the applicant was the owner and general manager of a service station. Upon presentation of additional evidence, he was issued a visa.

Our Services

We are also able to help those who have been erroneously rejected; those whose applications have been subject to unusually prolonged administrative processing; or those who have had their petitions sent back to the USCIS with recommendations for revocation of the approval.